Lyman McGarry and Associates
by ghostlyandcoastly
Summary: Hometown AU Noah Lyman has passed away. He left part of his firm in Josh's control- without asking him first. Josh has mixed feelings about moving back to his small hometown. Until someone enters his life that convinces him home is where family are.
1. Prologue

Prologue

_Wethersfield, CT 1980_

Josh, Sam, Danny and Toby left the locker room, bickering and covered in sweat. The four of them had just had particularly grueling basketball practice but they were in high spirits. Sam and Josh were razzing Danny and Toby about this Friday being their last game, that they were going to have to become old men now, that before they knew it, they'd be like their coach Jed Bartlet and his best friend Leo McGarry- old men with knees not good enough to keep up with Josh and Sam.

"Are you that eager to replace us?" Danny tossed back at Josh who wore his signature Cheshire cat grin.

"Yeah, we can finally have a real captain." Josh sassed at Toby. Josh regularly made fun of Toby's leadership skills, given his less outgoing nature but in reality, Josh was sad about his pseudo brother leaving him and worried about losing Toby's strategic mind. Josh clapped Sam on the back. Josh didn't want to be captain. He liked playing the role of rebel rouser too much. But Sam was perfect for it. Sam rolled his eyes at Josh though. He wasn't looking forward to losing Danny and Toby either.

"Are you guys nervous about finals?" Sam asked, changing topic.

"Sam, it's not for three weeks." Danny reasoned.

"Yeah but if we fail, we won't walk at graduation." Toby offered up without much emotion. His friends could see through him. He was fretting over this.

"And that'd be a shame. You'd be so damn cute in that cap." A feminine voice says behind them. Toby's grimace turned to grin as he recognized the voice but didn't turn around. The other three turned to see the redhead jump on Toby's back just in time.

"Andrea." Toby offered in greeting.

"Tobias." Andy said, jumping back down.

"Stop that. God, you two are gross." Josh whined with immaturity a la Joshua, referring to the two ogling one another.

"Speaking of, Joshua, who are you planning to _romance_ into going to prom with you _by this weekend, _hmm?" Andy quirked her head at him. At the mention of prom, Sam let out a involuntary groan. "Oh, that reminds me, Sam. Mall wants you to know that her dress is lilac."

"This was a terrible idea." Sam rushed to say. The group rolled their eyes at him.

"It'll be great, Samuel. She likes you." Andy insisted.

"This is cute and all but very high school. Could we talk about something else?" Toby griped. It only served to get the group physically moving but they didn't move on from the topic as they made their way to the parking lot.

"Hey! Get off my truck, you crazy people!" Josh yelled out as they got closer to their cars, jogging a bit when he saw them. The two girls he was yelling at just rolled their eyes and continued sitting on the hood of his truck.

"Joshua, don't be so rude." The brunette with big crazy curls scoffed at him.

"You really should be nicer to me." The straight hair brunette added.

"Why's that, Elizabeth?" Josh asked standing in front of them with eyes alight with mischief. He regretted it a little when Liz's hand smacked him on the back of the head. "OW!"

"You deserved it, little brother." Joanie laughed. "She is doing you a _huge_ favor after all." Joanie's mischievous smile mirrored her brother's from a second ago. They were only a year apart but often were mistaken for twins.

"What are you talking about?" His brow scrunched, he asked.

"I'm taking you to prom." Liz said casually.

"No. What. No." Josh panicked a little.

"Careful, Josh. You'll offend a girl." Liz smiled. Her mischief was less obvious, more akin to her father.

"I can't take my coach's daughter to the prom! And you have that college guy!" Josh squeaked. He threw a glare in Joanie's direction. He had a little bit of a crush on his sister's friend.

"That college guy is named Doug and I've dubbed the Doug The Douche." Joanie announced.

"Oh, shush. He couldn't help it. Something came up." Liz said to Joanie, blushing. "Anyways, Doug can't come and Joanie told me about your _situation_ and so I'm doing you a favor."

"So your date ditched you and you're doing _me_ a favor?" Josh put his foot in his mouth as only he could do so expertly. This time Joanie whacked him upside the head.

The rest of the group caught up to Josh at this point.

"You're taking Liz to prom?" Toby laughed but stopped when Josh sent him a death glare.

"Oh, cool. You can double date with Mall and I! Not that it's, you know, a date. Just four fri-"

"Sam, shut up." Joanie smiled at her younger brother's friend. Sam snapped his mouth closed. As much as he liked Mallory and had for a while, he still had his residual preschool crush on Joanie.

"Josh and I are going with Joanie and her date. You take Mallory somewhere nice now. Or I'll tell Mr. McGarry." Liz threatened. Sam gulped. Danny clapped him on the shoulder in support.

"Who are you going with Danny?" Joanie asked.

"Me!" A voice from behind the group said. They all turned to the tall and wonderful Claudia Jean. Danny's smile erupted.

"Finally!" Josh sighed.

"As friends!" Danny rushed to say. Both Danny and CJ blushed a little. Josh couldn't help but notice that Toby looked at the ground during this. He often wasn't sure whether his very good friend was in love with his girlfriend of the past six months or their friend their whole lives- CJ.

"Hey! Quit loitering! Get out of here. Don't forget about that essay tomorrow, Josh!" Jed Bartlet called out from twenty feet down as he got in his car.

"Hey, you have that essay due too." Josh whined at Sam.

"Yeah but I'm the good student." Sam grinned. Josh rolled his eyes. Liz hopped off the car.

"Alright, Joanie will tell you what color tie to get. See you later guys!" Liz waved goodbye as she walked to her dad's car where her sophomore little sister was also getting in. Zoey wouldn't be in high school for another few years.

"I can't believe you did this." Josh accused Joanie after they all said their goodbyes and they were in the truck driving home. Josh got to drive on Tuesdays and Thursdays while Joanie drove the rest of the time. He got it one Saturday a month as well if he wasn't in trouble for something.

"Oh, please. I was helping you. Besides, she was sad about Doug. You have a crush. Mutually beneficial."

"I do _not_ have a crush on her."

"Grow up, Joshua. Why can't you just admit when you like a girl? I swear, you'll be thirty eight and still not being able to cop to your feelings." Joanie rolled her eyes as the Lyman children were well known to do.

"When I like a girl, I'll be sure to let you know." He sassed back. "What's dad doing home?" He pulled into the driveway.

Later that night, when neither could sleep, the two of them cuddled together in Joanie's bed like they used to when he was little and scared. They both felt little and scared in that moment. Noah Lyman had announced to the two of them that he was sick. Unfortunately for the Lyman family, it wouldn't be the last time he'd have to say those words to his children.

**Thanks for reading! Please review! I know I have million in progress fics but this AU popped up in my brain a few months ago and I'm on a plane I got to writing with it. It won't be centered on them in high school but I'll have intermittent flashbacks. Also don't let this chapter fool you- this is not a Josh/Liz fic lol who do you think I am? Donna will enter center stage soon no worries- again pls review i am an ego slut for reviews**


	2. The Prodigal Son

The Prodigal Son

_New York City, NY 1998_

Josh came back to the apartment at an ungodly hour. He felt beyond exhausted. He was working double duty most days. John Hoynes was a shitty managing partner of the New York City branch of Noah Lyman and Leo McGarry's law firm. Josh loved the independence of working in the New York branch. He loved the pace of the city. He loved his small apartment. Until recently. When he made senior partner, he caught John Hoynes' attention and that meant he worked Josh to the bone just because of his last name. Josh got the impression that Hoynes and Leo had some shit that needed to be worked out and Hoynes was taking it out on him.

His girlfriend, Amy, kept telling him to leave Lyman McGarry but Josh wouldn't do that. Amy knew he could be making a lot more money and she was not as happy with Josh's tiny apartment. Despite this, she'd been making a lot of hints about Josh asking her to move in. It wasn't that he was oblivious. He just wished he was.

Amy and him had been on and off for two years. He'd dated around a little when they were off and before Amy but ultimately, he took to commitment like he took to folk music. Avoided at all costs.

Amy left him a note saying that it got too late, that she went to her apartment. He felt a little guilty that he hadn't called to tell her how long he'd be but he also wasn't that worried. If Amy was mad at him, maybe she'd lay off the hints.

Josh went through his voicemails. Two were from his assistant, one was from John Hoynes, another from Amy that she got home safe _not that he cared to ask_, and the final one that pulled on his heartstrings. It began with a hacking cough and ended with a _remember how much I'll always love you, son._

Josh ignored Leo McGarry's voice in his head and brought out the scotch to ease the nagging voice in his head that warned him about his father. He wrote it off as illogical. How could he know his dad was dying in that moment? He wouldn't! Josh Lyman did not believe in such superstitious things. Certainly not after a couple of scotchs that put him to sleep.

_Wethersfield, CT 1998_

_Three Days Later_

Josh's bags weighed heavy on his shoulders. He wasn't sure how long he was staying so he'd packed most of his wardrobe. His briefcase with work was almost as heavy. He stared at the ivory house with the blue door that he grew up in after the age of thirteen, when their old house had burned down.

A part of him felt like inside the house was the ghost of his dad. That was scary enough. But the knowledge that scared him was of the others inside. The cars extended around the road of the cul de sac. Many people were grieving for Noah Lyman.

When Leo called him that morning, Josh recited _Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha'olam, dayan ha-emet_, like the good Jewish boy that his mother had raised him to be. Josh held it together a minute after he got off the phone. Even John Hoynes treated him decently, telling him not to worry about work, to get home, take care of things. He didn't tell his mother this. He wasn't ready to go home. Joanie told him they had it all handled between mom, her, and Leo. He took the time to wrap up things at work. He waited for the last possible minute to come back to Wethersfield. He didn't know how to deal with seeing his old classmates, his dad's friends, worst of all his mother and sister.

But the burial would take place in a few hours. So Josh woke up early and took the train to Hartford where he rented a car. He had to park in the next cul de sac. He wasn't the only one. Parked, he maneuvered the rearview mirror down to his lapel and pinned the small black ribbon in _Keriah_ tradition.

Noah had always said that before the burial (which he wanted as few people as possible at) they were to have a party, that they were to be surrounded by friends, that they were not to be saddened. Josh used to admire it. Now faced with the reality Josh wanted to tell his dad that was stupid. Of course, he was sad. In a way he'd never known before. In a way he could not express to friends or his family. In a way that felt so personal that it scratched as it lived in his throat and burrowed in his stomach and pricked at his knees.

"Josh?" The low gravelly voice of Toby pulled him out of it. Toby had seen Josh in the window and now stood on the porch across from him. It had been awhile since they'd seen one another. There may have been an awkwardness under other circumstances. But Toby saw the tears spill from Josh's eyes and the two of them found themselves hugging, one trying to give support, another searching for that strength.

When they pulled away, Josh wouldn't look Toby in the eye. Toby knew to let that go and so he turned to head inside.

"Ready?" Toby asked.

"Yeah." Josh replied. Toby didn't need to see Josh's face to know that it was screaming _no._

Inside Joanie waited in the foyer. Her black ribbon drew Josh's eyes and poked sharply at his heart. Joanie pulled him in for a hug. When she knew she'd keep it together, she pulled away, looking at him directly in the eyes.

"Where's your girlfriend?" Joanie asked, playing her normal sister role. It gave her something to hold on to in her grief. Josh rolled his eyes, playing his part.

"No girlfriend. I told Amy to stay in New York." He shrugged. In truth, he was glad when she asked if he wanted her there (not sounding much like she wanted to be). He'd told her not to worry, to stay in New York, he'd call when he could. It felt more like an ending than a trip away. But he didn't have room in his brain for that at the moment.

"Josh." Mallory hugged him next. "My father asked me when you were getting here." Pressure settled on his heart. Josh didn't want to see what Leo looked like without his dad standing next to him. So he just nodded to Mall instead.

He made his way further into the house. Joanie flitted off to perform hosting duties but Toby stood behind him, not crowding him but there nonetheless. He saw the back of his old English teacher and basketball coach next.

"Mr. Mayor." He greeted formally.

"Joshua!" Jed Bartlet sounded ecstatic to see him. It was a small but comforting thought. "I'll have none of that. Call me Mr. Bartlet." He joked. It made Josh smile for the first time that morning. "Now Toby, Toby, can call me Jed. He has my old job after all."

Toby and Dr. Bartlet both rolled their eyes at this.

"Yeah, yeah. You say that to the people who can actually vote for you." Toby joked back. But all of them knew that Jed didn't have much of an appetite for politicking. Abbey hugged Josh next.

"How are you doing?" She held his hands, levelling her gaze at him. He couldn't lie to her face, not with the eyes of Abbey Bartlet on him, so he shrugged. She squeezed his shoulder in response. "We loved your father very much." He nodded, feeling choked up already. He felt Jed's hand on his other shoulder. His old teacher nodded at him when he met his gaze.

He continued further into the house, reaching the kitchen. It was teeming with food. He fought the urge to laugh when he saw that someone, clearly one of the more goyish of his mother's friends, had left ham. His dad would've joked about that for weeks if he knew.

In the living room, he found his mother. She was smiling, telling stories but tears ran down her face. It stopped him in his tracks, paralyzing him. He felt like an awful son for avoiding this for so long, for feeling like he wished he could avoid it longer.

"She's an amazing woman, Josh. He loved her to the ends of this earth." Leo's voice next to him yanked him back into real time. He snapped his head over without thinking and regretted it. The wrinkles in Leo's face that had seem once drawn in wisdom and a life well lived now seemed sketched in sadness and loneliness. Josh tried to swallow the ball of grief that had welled up in his throat. Leo's blue eyes turned to him. "I know. I look like hell." He let out a bark of a laugh that reminded Josh of the sounds he heard coming from his dad's office.

"Hey, what's changed?" Josh said wryly, his voice dripping in irony. Leo nodded sadly and put his arm around Josh and walked further into the living room.

Ruth looked up, her brown eyes founding her child's. The sob she let out at his appearance ripped at his heart. Ruth meanwhile was heartbroken by the tidy appearance of her normally perpetually disheveled made her sad because it reminded her of the seriousness of what she had to do in a few hours.

Josh rushed to his mother's side and wrapped her in his arms. The observers of the moment turned away politely. It was deeply emotional moment that called for a little privacy.

"Joshua." Ruth said affectionately, running her hand down his back. They pulled away after a minute. Ruth rubbed away her tears and forced a smile on. "Now where are your bags?"

"He dropped them in the foyer leaving me to take care of them as always." Joanie sighed dramatically as she joined their trio. Her passive aggressive comment was nullified by her affectionate smile for him.

"Oh! And the girlfriend. Where's the girlfriend?" Ruth added, hiding her disapproval of Amy.

"Oh, she stayed in New York." Joanie said before Josh could open his mouth. Joanie's tone was pointed, giving her mom a look. Josh pushed down his urge to sigh long and hard, knowing what this would lead to. Matchmaking. He wouldn't be proved right until later though.

Just then two children tore through the living room- the older sister yelling at the younger brother. Liz Bartlet came tailing after them.

"Oh, god. I'm so sorry about them, Ruth." Liz breathed out.

"Oh, no worries, darling. It's actually nice. They remind me of those two." Ruth gestures at Joanie and Josh who half smile at each other. Ruth adds, "And the tearing into one another phase? It never really goes away, I have to warn you." Joanie lands an elbow in Josh's side just to demonstrate this point.

"Brat." Josh whispered so just Joanie could hear him.

"Snob." Joanie replied just as quietly.

"Oh, I remember." Liz replied to Ruth, giving Joanie a smile the reaching for Josh to give him a hug. "Hey there, kiddo."

An hour later, Josh was in the backyard with Leo, greeting various friends of Noah Lyman. They all expressed their condolences, everyone had a story about Noah- his humor, his generosity, his intelligence, his particular and in depth trivial knowledge about aviation and basketball. Josh was growing weary of it all. He steeled himself as he turned to the next person who would inevitably bore him but make him miss his father that much more.

"Sam!?" Josh let out something like a sigh, feeling more at home than he had before.

"Hey, buddy." Sam pulled him in immediately for a bear hug. "Sorry, I'm so late. There was an emergency with work." He turned to Leo quickly. "Don't worry. I took care of it. With Donna's help, thank god. I didn't want to bother you." Leo rolled his eyes, going back and forth between being grateful for the space to grieve his best friend and annoyance at Sam for treating him differently because of Noah's passing. Leo knew that Noah loved the firm and he felt a duty to it because of him.

"Alright, well I'll call Donna after the burial and have her brief me. You two should go get beers after or something. Don't worry about work for a bit, worry about this guy." Leo clasped Josh on the shoulder. Josh stared at the ground, torn between not wanting to be alone after and feeling like a burden on Sam.

"Yeah, Toby and I were going to take him out to catch up. Danny might join us."

"I saw him earlier. I can't believe him and CJ still are pretending to be just friends. How long can that go on for?" Josh decided on a topic change. Leo turned away, talking to the guests, giving the two of them some time alone to catch up.

It wasn't long before people started filing out of the Lyman home and the group dwindled down to those who were going to the burial. Josh excused himself to the bathroom for a moment of reprieve before they left. Even though this group was small there were a few faces he wasn't familiar with. He knew he was bad at coming home and keeping up with things in Wethersfield. It wasn't entirely unintentional. But he hadn't realized he'd missed people closest to his father.

He exited the bathroom and passed one of those faces as she went into the kitchen. She looked young, younger than Joanie and him for sure. Maybe she was one of Zoey's friends? But why would Zoey's friends go to the burial? Zoey herself wasn't even going.

The group consisted of himself, his mother, and his sister obviously. Then Leo and Joanie's girlfriend and Leo's office manager, Margaret. Josh had only met Margaret when he came home for passover a few months ago. Joanie and Margaret had started dating a few months after Leo moved back to Connecticut to take over the home branch of Lyman, McGarry and Associates when Noah got sick this last time. He'd brought two people from the DC branch with him- Margaret and Ainsley Hayes. Ainsley Hayes wasn't coming to the burial but she had been among the last to leave, hugging Ruth and Leo tightly as she left. Jed and Abbey Bartlet were coming as well as Liz but her kids went home with their Aunt Ellie. Josh didn't know him well but he knew they'd been friends for a long time before he was born but Lionel Tribbey was also coming to the burial. A few others sat in the living room with his mother but he wasn't ready to get ready to go just yet.

So he went into the kitchen. Where he found the blond with her head in their fridge.

"Excuse me?" Josh said with a bit of snark.

"OW!" She jerked up and hit her head on the shelf. Josh attempted to cover his laugh with a couch. She turned to look at him with ice blue eyes that were narrowed but grew big as she recognized him. In her hands, there was a casserole and another wrapped dish. "Oh! I, uh, hello! I'm Donna Moss. I was just- I wanted to help ya know." She attempted to gesture at the food around the kitchen but couldn't due to the balance of food already in her hands.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about it. Mom will want something to do later when everyone's left." Josh shrugged, not sure why he was divulging that much information as it felt a bit like betrayal of his mother. After all, he had no idea who this woman was.

"Oh. I'll just…" She looked around for somewhere to put the dishes down. Josh rushed forward to help her. He placed the casserole dish on the island and Donna put the other dish on top of the microwave. Then they did that thing that can often happen in close quarters as one person goes right to leave and other goes to their left, blocking the other then they go the other way, blocking again. Eventually they get past one another and exit the kitchen together. It distracts Josh enough from what they're about to leave to do.

"It was, uh, nice to meet you." Donna said and Josh nodded, giving her a small smile. His eyes left hers and found Joanie's.

"Oh! You met Donna." She says coming over as Donna walked to the other side of the room to talk to Lionel Tribbey and Leo.

"Only briefly. Friend of yours?" Josh asked.

"What? You don't know?" Joanie replied. Josh looked at her blankly. "Dad was mentoring her, I guess. For the past few years. I figured he would have mentioned her."

"She's the one he kept talking about like she was the second coming of Jesus Christ Juris Doctorate?" Josh sassed. Joanie pinched his side, barely concealing her amusement at his joke.

"If dad said that, I'm pretty sure he'd say first coming. You forget we're Jewish, Joshua." Joanie retorted. Josh snorted.

Before long though, the happier moment went to dust as they all proceeded out of the house and into the cars to go to the funeral.

At the burial, Josh felt like his brain on some kind of drug that made time speed up and go by at an inchworm pace at the same time. It made it all the more grueling of a process but he stayed standing resolutely between his mother and Joanie. The hardest moment came when it was his turn to shovel dirt into the grave. The shovel felt like it weighed three times his own weight. He couldn't ignore the tears that left his eyes, pouring down his face. His mother handed him a tissue as he took his seat. In his grief, he didn't have room to feel embarrassed.

That night, after beers with Toby and Sam, Josh lay awake in his childhood bedroom turned neat guestroom. When he wouldn't fall asleep, he tried to work a bit but he wouldn't keep focus. So he went downstairs for water. The kitchen was neatly organized now. He remembers seeing Donna leave with his mom and sister. He wondered if she went back after to help Ruth and so she wouldn't have to be alone. He fell asleep much later with thoughts of ice blue eyes and kind smiles.

**Hi please review**

**it helps**

**Sorry if this chapter was depressing what will follow will focus less so on the sad parts more on the fun legal hijinks and romance and family and friendship more so**


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